


Love Me Tender

by bisexualreina



Category: The Fall (TV 2013), The X-Files
Genre: Bisexual Dana Scully, Bisexual Relationship - Freeform, F/F, Family Fluff, Mention of cancer, Pregnant Dana Scully, bisexual mothers, bisexual stella gibson, playful angst, stella gibson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27785521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualreina/pseuds/bisexualreina
Summary: Scully finds herself crying over EVERYTHING lately.
Relationships: Stella Gibson & Dana Scully, Stella Gibson/Dana Scully
Kudos: 32





	Love Me Tender

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warning: mention of cancer, loss of a child, etc.

Agent Dana Katherine Scully wasn’t a crier. Never had been, and only reserved the specific human response for special occasions. Keeping her loved ones, friends, and acquaintances at an arm’s length for most of her life, she never allowed herself to succumb to the watery emotion in front of others. Fox Mulder had been the exception, but that was a given, they spent ages in that basement, and it was bound to erupt at some point, so he didn’t entirely count.

Stella could count every instance on one hand that she had seen Dana Scully cry up until this point, upon her admission to herself and the blonde that she did indeed fancy women, and more specifically the one she had been devilishly flirting with, a slight mist over her deep blue irises as she asked her to marry her, the budding wall of tears when she stumbled off of the step stool and rolled her ankle sorely, and finally when she had urinated on multiple plastic sticks and lined them all up on the bathroom sink, waiting the allotted time with her wife nervously holding her in her lap, two dark lines appearing on both of them.

However that all went out the window as their lives progressed from that fateful day in the bathroom, her tears of both relief and excitement a precursor for what Stella had to look forward to. Everything seemed to bring Scully to tears, no matter what phase or week of gestation, if a banana was too yellow or the wind was too wet, she found herself in a puddle of hormone riddled emotions. Unable to prepare or address the sob inducing items, Stella found herself dumbfounded, nervous, and feeling quite useless, only able to soothe her distraught wife at the drop of a hat.

She looked forward to the day that Scully would be able to look bananas in the eye, or wave at curious babies in elevators again, hating to see her wife so upset. She also really missed bananas in her smoothies and oatmeal bowls.

The Saturday air was filled with a chilled breeze, the winter wonderland of Washington D.C. setting in. Stella eagerly scrubbed their bathroom spotless, her pajamas still adorned on her body as she reached farther and farther into the bathtub to get every crevice. She hadn’t expected nesting to bloom within herself, only assuming that the carrying parent would get such an instinct, but as November thirtieth grew closer and closer she found herself bearing that feeling to ready the apartment for their arrival.

She wiped the sweat from her brow and swung her ponytail off of her shoulder, humming to herself as she moved the heavy laundry bin into the bedroom, clamoring to her hands and knees to scrub the tiles with floor polish mixed with germ killer. She could hear the front door closing with a slam, alerting her that her wife was now back, followed by a rather abrupt exit in the last hour, the sound of rumbling in the kitchen causing her to look up from her progress and bite down on her lip.

She could continue with the cleaning, or she could go check on her grumbling wife who had progressed to a wee one centimeter in the last week. Some decisions were a little more obvious than others.

She sighed and quickly wiped up the soapy lather, telling herself she’d continue after checking on Scully. Once it was settled she slipped her bedroom slippers on and padded out into the kitchen, the redhead quietly packing the cupboards full of snacks that she had most likely picked up on the way home, her internal gauge most likely striking her fancy at the sight of window displays or radio commercials.

“Hi.” Stella grinned softly, leaning herself on the doorframe, but she watched Scully continue to shove things messily into their place, causing the blonde to watch carefully and move beside her, placing a gentle hand on her arm.

Her quickened pace caused her to frown, her brow furrowing with slight worry. In every instance of Scully’s emotional takeovers, she always seemed rationally aware or weepy over whatever had triggered a crying spell, this time she seemed genuinely upset.

“Dana…let me.” Stella offered, grabbing the boxes and cans from her, stretching against the counter with a bit more freedom, sliding the items onto the shelves. She stood a few inches taller than her tiny wife, and she secretly loved it, being able to fully wrap her up in her arms and consume her despite the now large interference of her growing middle.

Scully just huffed and crossed her arms while her wife continued to pack the kitchen, stocking and unloading. She even began slightly rearranging the items previously placed that Scully had reached onto her toes to fit onto the shelves, feeling eyes burning a hole into her back.

“Dana, why are you upset?” Stella finally sighed before turning around, the morning mild as Stella recalled, but she also knew that one glance taken out of context was enough to get her fiery wife going. Scully just shook her head and waddled her way over towards the sink, digging through the drying rack for a glass, but the blonde had obviously gotten to that chore of putting the items away, only making her grumble more.

“Dana, my love, you’re getting grumpier and grumpier, let me get you a glass then please tell me what I did?” Stella requested, taking her wife’s hands into her own before kissing her cheek carefully. She watched as she nodded, still knotting her muscles up enough to keep her momentum, she was cranky and upset with wife and needed to remember why.

Stella set a glass of ice water on the table with a straw, the blonde knowing that she enjoyed her water at near freezing temperatures, but disliked the feeling of ice on her teeth, carefully urging Scully over with a firm hand on her back, helping her into the uncomfortable, wooden chair.

“Now tell me what I did,” Stella urged, taking a seat as well, “please.”

Scully breathed in frustration, one hand moving to the sweating glass while the other rubbed her side where she felt a prodding foot. Stella moved her seat around the curve of the table and leaned forward onto her knees, waiting patiently as she picked at her cleaner dried fingers.

“I wanted to read today and I couldn’t find any of my Jodi Picoult that you bought me for my birthday last year, and I looked all around and then I saw that you locked them away in our filing cabinet in our taxes folder!” She cried, feeling her bottom lip quiver out of frustration and discontent with the woman sitting across from her. Scully furrowed her perspiring brow despite the freezing temperature in the apartment, not appreciating the slight smirk on Stella’s face.

“What is so _fucking_ funny?” She demanded, the expletive causing Stella’s eyes to widen and an involuntary chuckle fall out, only angering her wife further as she struggled out of her seat, anchoring herself to the table to pull her to her feet despite the ache in her back.

“Dana, oh my goodness, come here.” Stella crooned, following her from the kitchen and over towards the living room, catching up easily before whipping her around and against her chest in one swift motion. A hand fell to her cheek as she felt the muscles twitch under her hand, a telltale that she’d be a sobbing mess in just seconds.

“I’m sorry I laughed, I didn’t mean it.” Stella breathed apologetically, her hand still lingering on Scully’s cheek, brushing her thumb back and forth as her other arm began to sway her back and forth.

“Why…why did you lock my book away? I have time now, and I wanted to read.” Scully began to sniffle, allowing her wife to reach down and press her forehead against hers, breathing in her now intense scent of raspberries that lingered on her skin, compared to her own foul odor of bleach.

“Because you told me to lock them up when you first started feeling a bit weepy over our little parasite.” Stella grinned, her palm finding the same prodding foot that she had been fiddling with at the table.

“Don’t call her that.” Scully frowned, now feeling quite embarrassed, her brain failing to recall this conversation that they apparently had, but she knew Stella wouldn’t gaslight her just for the sake of a novel, allowing herself to trust her, despite how dumb it made her feel.

“You read the back and told me that despite Ms. Picoult being your favorite author, _My Sister’s Keeper_ seemed to be too much while you focused on growing our little lady.” Stella reminded, the conversation now slowly leaking back into her hormone hazed brain.

She had wished and asked for that book every time they passed it in the bookstore, their weekly outing to the small shop tempting her, but Stella had convinced her to wait, purchasing it and scribbling a lengthy note on the front cover. However upon picking it up, she figured a long novel about terminal cancer, losing a child, and the heart wrenching twist at the end, would be too much for her to handle.

“I forgot- I thought you snatched it and hid it from me to try and- well, I don’t know!” Scully began to shudder, her shoulders rising and falling in quickened gasps as her tears began to work and build, trailing down her smooth cheeks in monumental amounts.

Stella pulled her close and felt her bury her face into the warmth of her embrace. Slow strokes moved up and down her back as she felt her wife sob as she had done for nearly ten months straight, and each time Stella would just sit with her, holding her, and waiting it out until she felt better, no matter how big or small the reason may have been.

“Lets sit.” She whispered, shuffling the both of them to the living room where the sofa sat pristinely organized, cushions on either side and the large throw blanket folded in the basket beside it. Stella slowly began to draw Scully into her lap, scooting her back between the cushion and armrest for maximum support, all while remaining perched on her lap.

“I hate feeling crazy.” Scully frowned, her eyes still glossy with moisture as she dropped her gaze, unable to meet Stella’s out of sheer embarrassment. The detective just managed to scoot herself up so that her wife was tucked underneath her arm, drawing her close to her core, nuzzling several warming kisses into her growing red locks and forehead.

Her hands trailed down to her middle giving it a rub as a slight reminder to her self conscious wife, urging their daughter to calm down, feeling her twists and turns against her own body given their close proximity.

“You aren’t crazy, you’re very very pregnant, and I would assume that it is allowed for you to feel a bit out of sorts every now and then.” Stella reminded, reveling in the feeling of her wife’s head resting against her heart while their daughter tumbled around against Scully’s side, the kicks and prodding even being felt against Stella’s taut middle.

“I feel gross when I cry.” Scully admitted, sniffling once more as she tried to wipe the running tears from her cheeks and chin, but Stella took over and tenderly ran her fingers over them and placed kisses on the stained tracks under her eyes.

“Well I love every part of you, even the weeping over shades of yellow, sobbing over Chex cereal, and whimpering over Shrek Dana Scully that I am so lucky to have around.” Stella reminded, feeling her wife inhale deeply and nod against her heart, breathing softly in time with her own.

“Goodness, I just cried over a book that I haven’t even read yet- what am I going to do when I look at her for the first time?” Scully cried, the thought making Stella glance down at her before pursing her lips.

“You’re going to laugh because I already know she’s going to have your beautiful red hair and blue eyes, and hopefully Fox didn’t pass down nose because you have the most perfect one.” Stella began to whisper, the mention of their dear friend and his generous donation making Scully chuckle softly before humming in delight.

“Tell me more.” She insisted, making Stella just laugh and pull her closer, the insistent kicks against her hand giving her more ideas.

“She’ll have your calm personality, be so sweet and you will be so gentle with her and love her so so much. She’s going to love the blanket your mom knitted with her name and sleep all warm and bundled in it, and will look so teeny in it.” Stella breathed, now feeling her own eyes begin to soften with tears, not prepared for her own influx of emotions at the thought of their little girl being so tangible. Stella had dreamt of her, felt her so warm and snug in her arms, their little gift from whatever god above. There was nothing more that she wanted than this moment that she was forcing herself to describe to keep her wife content.

“She uh…she’s going to love the sound of your voice…and is going to just snuggle up like such a little bean. Oh god she’s going to love you so much.” Stella began to cry, now rendering herself useless with her wife and daughter cuddled up in her arms.

Scully heard the tears in her voice, and smelt the bleach on her skin, her excitement and anxiety radiating from her pores over this new life they were getting ready to mother together. 

Scully just managed a chuckle out of her sniffling lips and reached her arms up and around the blonde’s neck, pulling herself farther up her body before planting a wet and sloppy kiss onto her lips, bumping her hair against her chin. Their tender affection causing Stella to giggle, a sound that was music to Scully’s ears.

“I can’t wait to do this with you.” Scully whispered, feeling abundantly safe and loved while tangled together on the sofa, this next journey together telling her that it might be her most favorite one yet.

“Me too.” Stella replied, pushing the thought of cleaning out of her mind, telling herself that the day would be reserved for them and them alone. They’d order delivery, chat, and watch movies until the television went dead, anything if it meant they’d be doing it together.


End file.
